Tile panel



April 17, 1956 w. HARTLMAIR TILE PANEL Filed Jan. 5, 1951 FIGAL fUriiitfIstrifs Pareil* ["z,741`,91o9 i TILE PANEL Willibald Hartlmair, Munich-Gruenwald, Germany Application ranary "s, 1951, seran No. 204,592 .Claims priority, application Germanyllanuary 13, 19)50 4 claims. (CH2- 25)y The present invention relates to building panels comprising a plurality of symmetrically arranged tiles. It

, includes a method and an apparatus for producing such tile panels.

v It is already known to arrange rows of tiles in a plane to form building elements. The purposejof such a combination is to simplify and cheapen the installation ofthe tiles at the building site. i

AAccording to the present invention, building `panels are preparedthat comprise a pluralityof tiles symmetrically arranged and properly spaced in a plane, that are conjoined by adhesion on one sideto a sheet of flexible material. In the case of the usual glazed tiles, the flexible sheet is attached to the glazed side;V The exible sheet may be composed of any material that is strong enough to hold the tiles in place, andpit is furnished with anl ,ad-` hesive coating on oneside, in order to attach it firmly` Particularly useful for this purpose, aret gummed paper, adhesive coated textiles and the like.-` lIn order to increase the strength of such tile panels, lit is` usually desirable to bridge the joints'lbetween adjacena tiles, on the side opposite the adhering sheet, with a relato the tiles.

tively non-flexible, reinforcing material. For this purpose, disc-likev bodies of corkor woodor similarmaterial may be glued or otherwise rmly. attached to the back of the paneling over the joints between the tiles. For maximum strength such discs 'should be applied at the points where several joints meet or intersect (i. e. cornerwise). The reinforcingV discs serve the further purpose of spacing the tile panel from the` Wall to whichfit is applied.

The reinforced tile'panels described above may be further modified to render them particularly suitedV for certain purposes. For instance, there may be atixed behind the aforementioned reinforcing discsa sheet of suitable material, such as fibre board, that will form a shell into which a filling and cementing material may be poured .or squirted. v When casting mortar, cement or the like in theclinterior of this composite paneling, such filling and cementing material will liow from the back of the tiles into the joints between them, and the gummed paper or t other flexible material adhering to the front of the Vtiles will prevent its leaking out and marring the front of the tiles. After the building panel has been aixed in the desired position on a wall or oor at the building site, the adhering flexible material can readily be removed from the front of the tiles. Until then, it affords valuable protection to the exterior surface of the tile panel while it is being handled and installed.

Another desirable modication of my tile panel resides in the preparation of tile partition elements. In this case, the back of one of my tile panels is joined, for example, by means lof the above described reinforcing and spacing discs, to the back of another of my tile panels. This results in two spaced layers of tiles, each with its glazed side turned outwardly. The interior may be filled and i2,741,909 ou, Vl'atentveclNApr.' 11,1956

z2 cemented in the'same manner asthe composite paneling previously described. o n

The building panels of` my invention are particularly well suited for covering the walls, ceilings or lioors 'of bathrooms, kitchens, chemical laboratories and the like.

. The 4partition elements are especially valuable for building partitions between two rooms, both of which are to be tiled. lt is obviousv that these panels can be much more quickly andpinexpensivelyinstalled than the usual hand-laidtiles.

The process and apparatus for producing my new panels 'j may be continuously and automatically operated in a manner which has not heretoforeibeen possible. According to my process the tiles are symmetrically arranged and properly spaced, each with its glazed side upward, on a moving horizontal surface. The upper surfaces of the tiles are then continuously conjoined by means of an adhesive sheet of llexible material while on such moving horizontal surface. The continuous stripwof paneling so produced is finally cut into convenient lengths, after which it fmay befused directly or reinforcing members may be 4 added.

According toy a specific and preferred embodiment of my processy and apparatus, the tiles are symmetrically arranged and properly spaced onla moving conveyer belt, after which'their upper Vsurfaces are brought into contact with a strip of gummed paperl or Iadhesive textile sheet. Inv order to effect rapid and thoroughladhesion of the adhesive stripfto'the tiles, the adhesive surface of the strip is usually lirst moistened, and thetiles are rst t ,i warmed by a heating element.

When the moistened sheet andthe warmed', tiles are brought into contact, the tiles are immediately and firmly conjoined.` The `resultiilgg',v continuous strip of paneling is then drawn off thefconveyerb'elt over a large drum or similar device, which serves Vto reversethe direction of travel of said tile ,stripx andto guide it to an inclined roller path below By thus reversing the rdirection ofv the conveyer belt. the tile strip a` great deal of space is saved. Furthermore, the weight ofthe tile strip after passing over the reversing drumis only partly supportedby the inclined roller path and serves toexerea strong pull on the tile strip as it rests on the conveyer belt. This pull may be suicient to actuate the" entire apparatus so that no further driving means'are required. The roller path leads to a collect` ing zone, such as a depositing table or carriage, where the tile strip is cut into convenient lengths. At this point thereinfor'cing and spacing discs may be affixed over the exposed joints as' hereinbefore described. i

` It will be readily apparent that my process and apparatus are fully suited for automatic operation and hence fora tremendous increase in output as compared with conventional methods. Y In addition, the little labor that is required to serve the apparatus, i. e. feed the materials and remove the product, need not be skilled. Furthermore, the product is of uniformly good quality, which is not dependent, as in the case of hand-laid tiles, upon the skill of the individual worker.

Having generally described my invention it will now be more fully explained and illustrated by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l shows a front view of a simple tile panel according to my invention.

Fig. 2 is a back view of such tile panel to which reinforcing and spacing discs have been attached.

Fig. 3 is a cross section of a composite tile panel, including a backing sheet, that has beeniilled with `a cementing material.

Fig. 4 is a front view of a partition element according to my invention prior to filling, the flexible adhesive strip having been removed in order better to show the underlying details.

Fig- 'S is @OSS @smiths laatifisnslsasst. #11ers in Fig. 4.

Figs. 1 to 5 illustrate various modifications of my tile serve to explain the Vpartitionftype.

The panelsof Figsffl "throu'gh3v are composedy of fiveI rows of tiles 1, eight tiles inleachfro'w, ytheY having properly vspaced .joinlt's'l WThe points at which1 `these joints,

intersect are represented 3l Thetiles vl Sareconjoin'ed.

in the proper arrangement andspacing by means of a flexible sheeting 4, 'preferably gumrned paper. The rein-` forcing discs 5 are applied to the back of the tiles over the joint intersectionpoints 3., These discs are preferably made ofa relatively 'nonfxiblemateriah such. as cork, wood or the like.l Thelrnforc'ed panel of Fig. 2 maybe applied directly `to thehbuildingfwall o roor, in which case the reinforcingfdiscsfzS serve to maintaina proper spacing'be'tweenthe tiles '1 andthe surface to which the panel is applied. All of the spaces between such a reinforcedl panel and thevbt'iilding: surface should be filled` with the required airoilnt of cement, mortar or the like which vwill penetrate'into the'joints 2,l but not beyond the adhering exible sheet".4 Thus a firm seating of the. panel and uniform filling of the joints is assured. This is V illustrated by the composite panel Iof Fig. 3 thatincludes a backing sheet7 whiclfse'rvesto form a shellfor the filling and cementingl material. When atiixing the composite panelfto .the building; surface nails o rv screws are used which preferably"passl through/jointl intersection points 3 and the underlying reinforcing and spacingjdiscs 5. Their headsrnay,l later be covered with' mortarv or cement.`

' Figs. 4 and 5 show a partition type of panel composed. of two layers of tiles liv'andlb, each layer consistingY of two rows of three tiles each. Thesegtvvio layers arey attached to each other, `back Ato ,back with their glazed, sides outwards,'by means of therreinforcing and spacing.V

discs 5. The discs'Snear'thehcenter of the panel are arranged at the jointintersrections 3, each coming intov These discs are attached to thev contact with eightltiles.. tiles by means of a suitable adhesive, for example, one containing a synthetic. resin.

spacing discs somewhat differently, a s indcatedby 5a.

These outer discs fare best moved somewhat inwardly from v and 1b acrossthge joints `Zand serve as reinforcements;

They'preferably run in such .a direc-l tion as tocontact' 01"'.alfrlost`contact.tangentiallyrthe discs.

5 and 5a.

Many further modifications ,e and embodimentsof my.

a l Aththe edges, 8 of the paneling, it is preferabletoposition the reinforcingand These.. strips are. affixed to the back v invention will immediately become apparent to those skilledintheart; Obviously the number of tiles in each panel may be varied within wide limits. Not only square tiles but also other shapes capable of being symmetrically arranged, such as hexagonal and octagonal, may be employed. This will entail obvious rearrangement and modification of the feeding binsand the spacers, but such l are well within the skill of the ordinary mechanic. All

such modifications and'embodiments are included within the spirit and scope of my invention, except as definitely excluded by'the'language ofthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. A composite building panel comprising a layer of Ysymmetrically arranged spaced polygonal tiles, one sheet of flexible material adhering to one side of said layer, a plurality of separate reinforcing and spacing members smaller than the tiles affixed corner-wise only to adjacent tiles onhthe other yside of said layer and bridging the spaces between adjacent tiles, and a backing sheet afixed tojsai'dl reinforcing and spacing members, said panel being positioned to permit insertion of mortar between the back sideof the tiles and the backing sheet.

2. A rigid panel elementl comprising two layers of spacedl polygonal tiles symmetrically arranged back to back, exible sheets adhering to the outer `surface of said layers, and a plurality of separate reinforcing and spacing membersrsmaller than'` the tiles between `said layers, each of said members being secured to the tiles and partlyV bridging the spaces between adjacent tiles inY each of said layerscorner-wis'e only. p

3.' The rigid "panel element of claim 2 wherein the reinforcing and spacing members are disc-like.

"4."A rigid panel element comprising two layers of spaced polygonal tiles symmetrically arranged back to back, vand a pluralitybfseparate reinforcing and spacing members smaller than the tiles between said layers, each of-saidreinforcng and spacing members being secured to adjoining tiles in each of said layers and bridging the spaces. betweeiiadjcent tiles of each layer corner-wise only. Y'

References Cited .in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

